December 10, 2007

Farm Animal of the Week: White Cochin Hen

Isn't she gorgeous? She's a Cochin hen, a large breed that is known for their gentle natures and fluffy feet. I call them my Frodo chickens (for those of you not familiar with Hobbits, they have furry feet).My son, Zach took this picture, and he was lucky to get it with the hen eating a sprig of parsley. We give our hens just about everything we don't send to the restaurant or compost. Weeds, Manresa kitchen scraps, our own kitchen scraps, harvest trimmings, or brush trimmings, the girls get most of it. It keeps our feed costs down, gives the hens treats that they dearly love, not to mention that a diet rich in lots of different things results, I believe, in better tasting eggs. I swear their eggs are extra herbalicious when we do our twice annual cutting back of our herb garden. I'm not sure how the bugs they are always catching affect the taste of the eggs, but at least it's really good protein.

The hens know when we're bringing them treats. They see us walking toward them with a bucket or a wheelbarrow, and they come running. We dump the receptacles in their pen and they happily scratch, squawk, and cluck in delight.

What I've noticed over the years is that they're not the biggest fan of tomatoes. Could it be they instinctively think it's a deadly type of a nightshade? I'm convinced they can automatically tell when a plant or a piece of kitchen scrap isn't good for them. Despite this eerie instinct, they eventually reluctantly accept the tomatoes, preferring the seedier varieties. Maybe I'm imagining this reluctance. It couldn't be that they're just tired of the hundreds of pounds of tomatoes they get fed over the course of a season, could it? Sometimes I almost see them sigh when I give them yet another bucket of tomatoes.

It does make for some pretty tasty huevos rancheros, though. Thanks, gorgeous!

Comments

I'm a little shocked that your hens don't like tomatoes. I had a rhode island red for six years, and she dearly loved tomatoes to the point I had to build a hen run to keep her out of my garden or else she would peck my tomato plants to pieces. Maybe this is a cochin thing.

I have girls also. I give them lots of apples and I have the same problem. When the apples start they like them but after several weeks they look at me like another apple. What apples again???? My girls really like red foods. They don't get many tomatoes.

I have a Partridge Cochin hen (red-brown) and a black Cochin rooster, both Bantams. I just got the rooster, so I'm looking forward to seeing chicks next spring!

I also have two Bantam Silkies (one black, one white) and 13 Bantam Sebrights (9 silver and 4 gold). I would recommend any of them to Annette -- even my 6 roosters are not aggressive, and they're so pretty!

Your chickens are beautiful. I lost my last two chickens on mother's day of this year because of a terrible accident. I was very sad for days. We decided not to get any more at this time because we were wanting to travel. Our chickens loved tomatoes, but they didn't get them very often. They also loved romaine lettuce and blueberries. I am beginning to feel the need for a few more chickens.

I love your chickens Cynthia! I am eagerly looking forward to owning 2 or 4 hens this year in San Jose. I would love your advice on the breed of chickens that would do well in a small yard, plus children friendly. Would you recommend Bantams?

Nate: All the girls pretty much get a long well, they were all raised together as tiny chicks. From the start, though, they spar to figure out who is the alpha. Then the alpha hen has to continue to exert her authority over the others. The low girl on the totem pole does get picked on (or "pecked on" in this case) from time to time. If we had a rooster, then he would be top dog, and the alpha hen could relax quite a bit. I love roosters, they are amazing creatures; my neighbors just don't like them as much as I do!